Arch support



July 5 1960 F. F. OLSON ETAL 2343,405

ARCH SUPPORT Filed Jan. 18, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1960 F. F. OLSON ETAL 2,943,405

ARCH SUPPORT Filed Jan. 18, 1960 2 s s 2 FIG.8

v TALUS CALCANEUS: NAVICULAR ENTOCUNEIFORM BONE 1ST. METATARSAL. PHALANGES CA LCAN EUS TALUS NAVICULAR CUNEIFORM BONES ,14

IN V EN TORS FREDRICK F. OLSON y JAMES J. CAIRNS United States Patent "'ce ARCH SUPPORT Filed Ian. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 3,009

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-71) This invention relates to an arch support for footwear "and pertains more particularly to an arch support of onepiece construction adapted specifically for use in rubber or plastic footwear and in canvas-upper shoes such as tennis shoes and rubber-soled or plastic-soled canvas casual shoes.

In U.S. Patent No. 1,938,127, an arch support is described which is intended to relieve the discomfort resulting from the condition commonly referred to as flat feet caused essentially by the inward rotation of certain foot bones (principally, the calcaneus (os calsis), the talus (astragalus) and the navicular (scaphoid) bones) accompanied by the flattening of the longitudinal arch of the foot. The arch support described in the aforesaid patent contains two segments of specified shape fitted together in a specified relationship to accomplish the desired realignment of the foot bones when the arch support is used. One of these segments is made of a relatively non-compressible material, such as leather or hard or firm rubber, while the other segment is made of a resilient material, such as sponge rubher. The relatively non-compressible segment is posi- 'tioned beneath the calcaneus and talus foot bones with its forward edge directly below the center of weight distribution of the body and abuts the resilient segment which underlies the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone. The two segments are so shaped that the arch support tends to return the misaligned foot bones to their proper position While the arch support is being worn. The arch support described in the aforesaid patent has been found to perform very satisfactorily and has been embodied in numerous footwear constructions. However, the cost of separately making the two segments of the arch support described in the aforesaid patent and the cost of assembling the two components of the arch support in the fotwear is such that from an economic standpoint it would be preferable if an arch support of one-piece construction could be made which would perform in the same manner as the arch support described in the patent.

This invention provides an arch support which'functions essentially in the same manner as the arch support described in U.S. Patent No. 1,938,127 but is of a unitary construction. The arch support of this invention is made throughout from the same composition and, therefore, can be molded as a single-piece member, the arch support being so designed that the desired characteristics of the arch support are provided mainly because of the configuration of the arch support. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the arch support of this invention comprises a heel portion which firmly supports the calcaneus bone and indirectly supports the talus and navicular bones of the foot, and a cushioning portion underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone which portion due to its design gives resilient support to the longitudinal arch of the of the arch support are contoured and positioned so that Patented July 5, 1960 the arch support when in use tends to maintain the bones of the longitudinal arch in normal alignment.

The invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an arch support within the purview of this invention and indicates the position of the arch support in relation to an insole (shown in dot and dash lines) of a shoe;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the arch support shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 63 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevation view of the arch support shown in Fig. 2 with the arch support positioned so that the top face of the arch support is turned down;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view partially broken away of an arch support similar to that shown in Fig. 2 but showing a second embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an elevation view of the portion of the arch support shown in Fig. 5 with the arch support positioned so that the top face of the arch support is turned down;

Fig. 8 is an elevation view of the arch support shown in Fig. 2' showing the relation of the arch support to the bones of the foot (shown schematically in dot and dash lines); and

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the arch support shown in Fig. 2 showing the relation'of the arch support to the bones of the foot (shown schematically in dot and dash lines) and to the insole of a shoe (shown in dot and dash lines).

Referring to the drawings, the arch support .10 shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 comprises a heel portion 11 underlying and firmly supporting the calcaneus bone, and indirectly the talus and navicular bones of the foot, and a cushioning portion 12 which underlies the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone, the heel portion 11 extending forwardly to a point beneath the talus bone of the foot. The arch support 10 is of single-piece construction and is formed of a flexible resilient material such'as a flexible resilient rubber or plastic composition. Preferably, heel portion 11 abutsthe cushioning portion 12 along a line 13 which is a reverse curve that starts from the inside edge 14 of the arch support and travels toward the rear of the arch support and then reverses and'extends forwardly curving toward the inside edge 14 of the arch support and conforming generally to the forward curved edge of the longitudinal arch, as shown in Fig.2. The plantar fascia tendon is a tendon extending along the inside of the foot, and in the region of the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the navicular bone'is extremely sensitive to pressure. This te ndon' has its upper'and rearward extremity located adjacent the inner side of the talus bone of'the'foot 'at a point directly above the calcaneus bone and extends forwardly under the navicular bone and cuneiform bones in a diagonal manner to become associated with each of the metatarsal bones. There is a definite area directly underthe talus and calcaneus bones where the sensitivity of this tendon becomes practically negligible. The reverse curve abutment 13 of heel portion 11 and cushioning portion 12 is contoured to prevent painful pressure from being exerted by the heel portion 11' on the plantar fascia tendon forward of the area beneath the talus and calcaneus bones where the sensitivity of the tendon is practically negligible by extending the rearward reach 13a of the reverse curve abutment 13 rearwardly to this said area beneath the talus and calcaneus bones while the forward reach of .the heel portion 11 along the inside edge 14. of the arch support 10 extends to a point forward of this area of non-sensitivity but adjacent the talus bone.

Heel portion 11 has its thickest portion along th e'inner edge 14 of the arch support 10 and is feathered'toward the central portion =15 of the heel "portion 11. Theheel portion 11 of arch support also is thicker at the rear edge 16 and outer edge 17 than the central portion 15, but is not as thick at the rear edge 16 and outer edge 17 as it is at the inner edge 14, and is feathered from the rear edge '16 and outer edge 17 toward the central portion so that a5depressi0n is formed atthe central portion of heel portion '11 asindicated in Fig.2.

Cushioning portion 12 comprises a downwardly depending supporting wall 18 along the inner edge 14 of the arch support 10 and downwardly depending protuberances 19, 19 which underlie the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone. Supporting wall '18 preferably is canted toward the-outer edge '17 of the arch support 10 so that it will flex more readily when the arch support is stepped upon than if it were vertical, and decreases in height as it extends forwardly from a point (B) opposite the area directly'below the center of weight distribution of the body (indicated bytheletter C in Fig. 2). The length of the protuberances 19, 1 9 progressively diminish as they digress from the inneredge 14 toward the outer edge 17 and forwardly and rearwardly from the area directly below the center of weight distribution of the body so that, in essence, a cushioning pad conforming generally to the shape of the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone is formed with its thickest portion essentially directly below the center of weight distribution of the body. The thickest portion of cushioning portion 12 may be equal in thickness to the thickest portion of heel portion 11 (whichoccurs along the inner edge of heel portion 11 as indicated above), but, preferably, is slightly thicker to provide a greater cushioning and uplifting action to the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone when the arch support is stepped upon. For best results, the thick ness of the thickest portion of cushioning portion .12 is from A to M1 inch thicker than the thickest portion of heel portion 11.

When arch support 10 is stepped upon, the heel portion 11 firmly supports the calcaneus bone, and indirectly the talus and navicular bones, and because the 7 highest portion of heel portion 11 is along the inner edge 14 of the arch support 10 tends to rotate these bones upwardly and outwardly while the cushioning portion 12 cushions and supports the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone. Due to the flexibility of the composition from which the arch support 10 is made, the protuberances '19, 19 when the arch support is stepped upon will flex and bend as will be supporting wall 18 thereby providing a mechanical resiliency to the cushioning portion 12 of the arch support 10.

The arch support 20 shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 is of the same construction as that of the arch support 10 shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 with the exception of the contour of the heel portion of the arch support. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the heel portion 21 has its thickest portion along the inner edge 22 of the arch support 20 and is feathered toward theouter edge'213 of the arch support 20, the feathering terminated along a line 24 extending longitudinally down the central portion of the heel portion 21.

The arch supports 10 and 20 may be incorporated into footwear constructions in any convenient manner such as by adhering the arch supports on an insole 25 of the footwear. If desired and as shown in Fig. 2, the entire bottom face of the heel portion of the arch support and the marginal zone 26 of the cushioning portion may be roughened to facilitate adhering the arch supports in place, adhesive for adhering the arch supports to an insole being applied, preferably, only to these roughened surfaces. The arch support also may be adhered to a midsole and an insole disposed as a cover over the arch support.

Rubber compositions or plastic compositions suitable for making the arch support will be apparent to those skilled in the industry. The following rubber composition may be used for making the arch support and is included herein for the purpose of illustration.

Material: Parts by weight The above composition when vulcanized at 290 'F. for

about 15 minutes results in a vulcanizatehaving a Shore durometer A hardness of about 68 to 70.

It will be understood that obvious variations and deviations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this inventionas defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An arch support of one-piece construction made of a flexible resilient material, said arch support comprising a heel portion underlying the calcaneous and talus bones of the foot and a cushioning portion positioned forward of said heel portion and underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, said heel portion having its thickest'portion along the inner edge of the arch support and being feathered toward the central portion of said heel portion whereby said heel portion tends to rotate the calcaneus, talus and navicular bones of the foot upwardly and outwardly, said cushioning portion having a downwardly depending supporting wall along the inner edge of the arch support which supporting wall decreases in height as it extends forwardly from a point opposite the point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body, said cushioning portion having downwardly depending protuberances underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, the length of said protuberances progressively diminishing as said protuberances digress from the inner edge of the arch support toward the outer edgeof the arch support and as said protuberances digress folwardly and rearwardly from said point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body to forma cushioning element conforming generally to the shape of the longitudinal arch of the foot.

2. An arch support of one-piece construction madeofa flexible resilient material, said arch support compnslng a heel portion underlying the calcaneus and talus bones of the foot and a cushioning portion positionedforward of said heel portion and underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, said heel portion having its thickest portion along the inner edge of the arch support and being feathered toward the central portion of said heel portion whereby ,sald heel portion tends to rotate the calcaneus, talus and navicular bones of the foot upwardly and outwardly satd ,heel portion having its rear edge and outer edge thicker than the central portion of said heel portion and being feathered from its rear edge and outer edge toward the'central portion of said heel portion whereby ,a depression is form d in the central portion of said heel portion, said cushioning portion having a downwardly depending supporting wall along the inner edge of the arch support which supporting wall decreases in height as it extends forwardly from a point opposite the point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body, said cushlomng portion having downwardly depending protuberances underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, the length of said protuberances progressively diminishing as said protuberances digress from the inner edge of the arch support toward the outer edge of the arch support and as said protuberances digress forwardly and .rearwardly from said point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body to form a cushioning element conforming generally to the shape of the longitudinal arch of the foot.

3. An arch support of one-piece construction made of a flexible resilient material, said arch support comprising a heel portion underlying the calcaneus and talus bones of the foot and a cushioning portion positioned forward of said heel portion and undenlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, said heel portion extending fonwandly to a point beneath the talus bone of the foot and abutting said cushioning portion along a reversely curved abutment starting at the inner edge of the arch support opposite the talus bone of the foot and proceeding inwardly and rearwardly to the area beneath the talus and calcaneus bones of the foot where the sensitivity of the plantar fascia tendon is practically negligible and then turning forwardly, said heel portion having its thickest portion along the inner edge of the arch support and being feathered toward the central portion of said heel portion whereby said heel portion tends to rotate the calcaneus, talus and navicular bones of the foot upwardly and outwardly, said cushioning portion having a downwardly depending supporting wall along the inner edge of the arch support which supporting wall decreases in height as it extends forwardly from a point opposite the point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body, said cushioning portion having downwardly depending protuberances underlying the longitudinal arch of the foot forward of the calcaneus bone of the foot, the length of said protuberances progressively diminishing as said protuberances digress from the inner edge of the arch support toward the outer edge of the arch support and as said protuberances digress forwardly and rearwardly from said point directly below the center of weight distribution of the body to form a cushioning element conforming generally to the shape of the longitudinal arch of the foot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,938,127 Whitman Dec 5, 1933 

